Friday, January 29, 2016

Know Your Pace

I use an app on my iPhone when I am running to help me track my mileage, running time, and intervals. I have it set to tell me the pace I have set at the end of each mile. This helps me to determine if I am running at my desired pace and if I need to make adjustments based on the total distance I am running. If I am only running 2-3 miles, I know I can set out at a much faster pace because I don’t have to maintain it for long. If I have a longer run planned for that day, I know I have to be careful not to set out too fast or I won’t be able to sustain my efforts over time.

Don’t we do this in other parts of our life? We set a pace that is too intense for us to maintain and end up crashing. We either reach the point of complete exhaustion, engage in unhealthy practices to try to keep up, or suffer from a breakdown of some type. While I believe we need to push our pace some to grow, we also need to make sure we aren’t going so fast we can’t sustain it. Pushing past our limits is possible (and even beneficial) in the short term, but a frenetic pace and maximum intensity isn’t healthy over long periods of time.